Billy the Cat
by ashlawnpb
Summary: William Grange is a teenage boy, living in the Buckinghamshire village of Burnham. His day starts off by going to school, before coming home to see his dad's latest inventions. However, this is when things take a turn for the worst. William must rise above the challenges and become the hero, Billy the Cat.
1. Inventions

Welcome to my new fanfiction. This is based on the Billy the Cat comic strip from the Beano. Please enjoy.

* * *

It was a lovely sunny day in the village of Burnham, in the county of Buckinghamshire. William Grange was on his way to school, walking along the path next to the main road. He was an ordinary boy, with no particularly amazing talents, except he was quite good at chemistry and that made him a nerd in the eyes of the school bullies. Today was an ordinary day for William, or so he thought. In fact, today was going to change his life forever.

School was ordinary, especially the teasing he got from members of his class. It was what happened when he got home, that would impact him. As he walked through his door, William's dad greeted him, by setting one of his latest inventions off in William's face.

"Whoah," William cried out in shock.

"Watch it champ," dad said, clearly not expecting William to come through the door at that moment. "You just activated my anti-theft device. Well at least I know it works, I just need to alter the sensitivity levels."

Williams's dad was the village inventor, a clever man whose inventions didn't always produce the results that he expected and his reputation amongst the villagers wasn't the best. He often started some amazing projects, but soon they were by the wayside and replaced by something equally likely to be a failure.

"Did you have a good day at school dear?" William's mum asked, coming through to the living room from the kitchen.

"It was the same as every other day," came the reply.

"Those boys still after you?" Dad asked.

"Yeah."

"You should stand up to yourself. Take those karate classes I saw," dad said.

William had no interest in sport and didn't particularly want to fight anyone, no matter how much they bullied him. He was quiet and shy and liked his life like that. If only people could just leave him alone and let him live his life the way, he wanted to.

"Hey, why don't you come through and see my latest invention," dad said.

Reluctantly, William followed his dad through the house, to the workshop in the garden. This was where the most dangerous items were kept. They both ducked through the door and entered the most cluttered room William had ever been in. However, his dad did work in here, William did not know.

"Look here, this is my new cat helmet," dad held up a shiny black helmet, with a visor and what looked like three cat's whiskers son either side of the visor.

"What does it do?" William asked.

"The antennae on the helmet allows the wearer to listen in to radio frequencies and they also contain omnidirectional microphones, that allow the wearer to hear people up to 100 meters away. I call it the cat helmet, because of the antennae looking like a cat's whiskers."

William picked the helmet up and his dad nodded at him to try it on. He pulled it down over his head and there was a sharp pain in his ears as the inbuilt speaker activated. Sure enough, William could currently hear a police radio, barking orders to various officers on the beat. He lifted the helmet back off and put it down.

"It actually works," he commented.

"You sound surprised," his dad had some mock hurt in his voice.

"I am slightly, especially after how you welcomed me when I got home."

"Here, look at this."

Dad passed William a neatly folded pile of material. Letting it unfold, William was soon holding a black cat suit.

"And what is this for?"

"Well this material is something I have been working on for a long time. I didn't think it had worked, but after some tests this morning, I believe I have cracked the world's first stab proof, bullet proof, rip proof, indestructible skin suit. I have been developing this as a tool for the armed forces. A lightweight piece of body armour, that protects the body from the neck down. It is incredible. I have also developed these circular bracelets that go around the wrists, that help to attach the gloves, but also contain some scanning technology and other gizmos. The boots are heavy duty and protect the wearer like the suit. They are repurposed walking boots. Then, there is this rope, especially developed to be 100x stronger than steel. It can wrap around the body and form a belt, before being deployed. Finally, there is the backpack, made from a beige version of the suit material and worn over the shoulders and attached in place by a circular buckle on the torso."

"You have been really busy dad," William said. "Do the army know you are developing this?"

"They do, yes. A member of the army is supposed to be coming around tonight, to have a look at these prototypes."

William's dad took back the suit and folded it neatly, putting it back in the box he had retrieved it from earlier. He then reached up to a shelf, holding a series of chemicals and pulled one of the bottles down.

"This is a special discovery of mine. I have analysed the lives of cats and their amazing acrobatic abilities. Using the chemical composition, I believe I have created a serum that will allow, temporarily, a human to replicate those abilities. It is going to revolutionise what we as humans can do."

"Won't this be dangerous though in the wrong hands?" William asked.

"Exactly," his dad said as he placed the bottle back on the shelf, "which is why the bottle is labelled as something else and I am not giving this to the army. The world is not yet ready for this."

"Dear, you have a visitor," William's mother called from the kitchen door.

"They're here early," dad said. Right, I better go and see them. You wait here, I might need you to demonstrate some of the kit."

William nodded and watched his dad go back to the house. While he waited, he had another look around at some of his father's inventions. As he did so, he heard a loud bang come from the house, followed by another. What was that?

Before he had time to think, there was a blinding light and another bang, this time right outside the workshop. William stumbled and reached out to steady himself. As he did so, his hand brushed against a series of items hanging down from the ceiling. They fell from their hooks and came crashing down around him. One of them fell onto the shelf of chemicals and brought the whole lot down, crashing to the floor and dousing a now unconscious William, who was sprawled on the concrete. Everything was black to William who was unaware of what was happening now.

* * *

A short time later there was the sound of shouting as William began to come to. Around him his father's workshop had been destroyed. Inventions lay trashed and strewn all over the place. William was still soaked in the liquids that had fallen on him and a large red lump had formed on his head, where something had hit him as he fell. The glass had been blown out of the windows and lay everywhere.

The shouting voices were getting closer and William tried to haul himself up. He went crashing down as he couldn't hold his own weight. The doors began to rattle as the voices arrived right outside. They were yanked open and William saw his cousin Kathleen run into the space. She saw her cousin lying there and jumped over to him.

"William, thank goodness you are ok. Oh, William," she sobbed, tears streaming down her face. She brought her cousin up and hugged him tightly.

"What's happened?" he asked, his voice raspy.

"Can you stand?" Kathleen asked, not answering his question.

"I don't know, I feel really strange."

With a little bit of difficulty, they managed to get William back to his feet. He wobbled a lot, before getting his balance back. He looked over and saw the only things left intact in the whole workshop. The box containing the new helmet and suit his dad had made for the army. He hobbled over to it and opened it up. Inside surprised him. It was not the suit and helmet, there were just old bits and bobs. putting his hand inside, that was when he almost jumped back in surprise. His hand passed through the objects and they disappeared, revealing the suit below. Lifting his hand back out, the bits and bobs reappeared. A hologram possibly. Kathleen came over to look.

"What are you doing with a box full of junk?" she asked, as she put her hand in.

William wanted to stop her, but he didn't need to worry. Instead of her hand going through the objects, she lifted them up out of the box.

'Hard-light hologram,' William thought to himself.

"Just junk," Kathleen said. "We have to go. The police are here."

"I need to take that with me," William said. "I need to keep it."

"Suit yourself, but you need to come now."

William put the lid back on the box and hobbled after Kathleen carrying it with him.

They moved back towards the house, through the garden that looked like it had been through a World War. There were craters everywhere and mud had been slung all over the garden, flowers ripped from their beds.

"What has happened?" William asked, as he saw the police officer standing in the doorway.

Before Kathleen could answer, the officer spoke.

"William Grange?" he asked.

"Yes," William said, questions building in his voice.

"I am so sorry son. I am afraid your mum and dad have been involved in an incident, and so has your house."

"What happened?" William asked, trying to move forward and into the house.

"William, you don't want to go in there," Kathleen said.

He didn't listen and barged straight past the officer. The sight that met him, made him want to throw up and scream. He ran back out, dropped the box and begin to retch. Laying on the kitchen floor, was his parents, their brains both blown out and dead, blood all over the place.

William couldn't bring anything up and collapsed down onto the ground, sobbing his eyes out. Anger and despair filled his body, he yowled causing the local cats to join in.

* * *

After a while, William had calmed down, unable to cry anymore and he sat just rocking himself to and fro. The police had tried to talk to him, but he was unresponsive and they soon gave up. Kathleen had stood away from him, but now moved over and put her arms around his shoulders.

"Come on, we have to go and speak to the police, then we go to my place. Mum is dealing with the social workers and getting permission for you to stay with us as long as you want."

William nodded silently and got to his feet. Kathleen nodded at the waiting officer and they went over to talk.

After explaining the details, Kathleen's mum came and took them back home. The police were going to call in the morning with any information they could give them. It was all mind numbing.

Aunt Mabel had cleared the spare bedroom and made the bed for William. He now sat on the bed all alone, looking at the box he had rescued from the workshop, which was on the floor in front of him. He had no idea what he was going to do with the suit. It was his father's last great invention.

Laying back, William soon fell asleep, fully clothed. His energy had been sapped from the day's events. His parents were gone and the house and his dad's inventions destroyed. William tossed and turned, images playing in his dreams. It was a long night and he kept waking up every hour, terrified of the things he saw. Why had this happened to him and who could have possibly committed this horrific attack on his parents? He wanted to know these answers, but also wanted a nightmare free night. He soon dropped into a deep, deep sleep where the dreams were not there.


	2. CAT

Here is the second chapter. How is William going to move on from his parent's deaths?

* * *

The sun rose and set twice, before William woke again, to the sun rising for a third time. He came face to face with Kathleen who was stood right over him, staring at his face.

"Whoah," William said, jumping in fright. "What are you doing there?"

"Looking at you. You have been asleep for so long."

"How long?"

"Two whole days. We were starting to get worried."

William looked down at himself and noticed that he was still dressed in his clothes from the other day. He managed to get himself in a sitting position. He couldn't believe he had slept through two whole days. How much had he missed? Had the police discovered anything to explain who killed his parents?

"I need to get up and have a wash," he said.

"I'll go and tell mum you're awake. The police are coming around again today."

Kathleen left the room and William alone. Slowly and carefully, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and planted his feet on the ground. Counting to three in his head, he stood up. There was a moment of dizziness and then he was ready to start walking. William walked over to the wardrobe and opened the door. Inside, he could see a selection of brand new clothes, all his size and buried at the bottom was the box from his dad's workshop. Someone had hidden it in there. William thought about the need for evidence from the crime scene. Maybe Kathleen had hidden it, so it wouldn't be taken away.

Gathering a t-shirt, underwear and trousers, William went to the bathroom, where her proceeded to have a nice hot shower. The water flowed over his body and washed away the dirt and scum that had landed on him two days previously.

He twisted the tap shut and the water cut off, the remnants dripping down the shower head and off of his head. He climbed out of the shower and brought a towel up to dry the water from out of his eyes. Looking in the mirror, was what made him jump next. William saw a reflection that he thought he would never see. The person standing in the mirror opposite him, was not William. Well it was him, but not like he had ever seen. He had muscles that had never been there before. Biceps, triceps and abdominal muscles as clear as day.

William looked down again and found that he was no longer standing on the floor, but had jumped onto the windowsill and was sat there like a cat.

"Oh no, what has happened?" William said out loud. "What have I become?"

William thought back to what had happened in the workshop. The chemicals that had spilled over him. His dad had said the serum worked temporarily, but that was only with a small amount of it. He had had a large bottle poured directly on to him. Was this permanent? He didn't know.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Are you almost done?" Kathleen's voice came through the wood. "Mum has made you some breakfast."

"I'll be out in a few minutes," William replied.

How was he going to explain this sudden growth of muscle? He flexed his arms. Strength coursed through his body, he felt so good. Jumping down from the windowsill, he landed nimbly on his toes, not a sound coming from him. Now that was cool. With incredible speed, much faster than he could have done before, he dried his body, got dressed, gathered up the old clothes and left the bathroom. Dumping them in his new room, he shut the door and proceeded to go downstairs, where the smell of cooking sausages, bacon and egg filled his nostrils. Walking into the kitchen, he saw Aunt Mabel at the hob finishing off the breakfast. She looked up when he came in.

"William my dear, it is so good to see you up. How are you doing?"

Aunt Mabel was married to his dad's brother and had lost her husband a few years ago, from a car accident. William was wondering more how she was doing.

"I am doing ok thanks. I just want to get to the bottom of what happened."

He thought about telling Aunt Mabel about his new body and reactions, but thought against it. If he told her, she would likely tell the police and they would want to run medical tests on him. That was not going to make him feel better. All William wanted to do right now, was eat and eat he did. Aunt Mabel had laid on a feast for him. Having not eaten in two days, he needed those calories and fast. He wolfed down the food (a metaphor which doesn't seem suitable when you consider the animal that William's powers derive from) and sat back content.

"Wow, I have never seen someone eat so quickly," Aunt Mabel said.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. That would be the police.

"I'll get it," Kathleen said from another room.

William heard the door open and voices coming down the hall. Aunt Mabel began to clear the crockery and cutlery away from the table. A moment later, a police officer William didn't recognise walked through the door, followed by another, who was plain clothes. The first spoke.

"Hello again Mrs Grange," he said to Aunt Mabel. He then turned to William and said, "you must be William. I am DC Mack and this is DI Jefferson," he said, introducing his fellow officer.

"What does DC and DI stand for," William asked.

"DC stands for Detective Constable and DI means Detective Inspector," explained DI Jefferson.

"William, what can you tell us about the events of two days ago?" DC Mack asked.

William thought for a moment. How much should he say? What do they want to hear? He began by telling them about what he had done at school and then how his dad had surprised him with one of his latest inventions when he got home. William continued telling them about going to the workshop, but didn't say what his dad had shown him.

"He said there was someone coming around to see one of his inventions," William said.

"Did he say who and which invention?" DC Mack asked.

"No he didn't," lied William. "Mum called from the house to say dad had a visitor and he told me to wait in the workshop. It was a short while after that, I heard two loud bangs and then the workshop was attacked."

"And that is everything you remember?"

"Yes," William confirmed.

DI Jefferson looked carefully at William's face, studying it as though he was trying to see if he was lying.

"You are absolutely certain you didn't know what your father was doing," DI Jefferson asked.

"I never really showed much interest in what dad was up to. So many of his inventions ended in failure. It was just something he did and mum and I had to live with."

"I think we are done for now," DC Mack said. "We'll keep you updated as we make progress in the investigation. Keep yourselves safe now."

With that, the two policemen left, followed by Aunt Mabel, who shut the front door behind them. A moment later she reappeared in the kitchen.

"I don't like that DI Jefferson," she said. "He gives me the creeps."

"I know, he kept looking at me with such suspicion."

"Anyway, I have something to give you." Aunt Mabel reached into her pocket and brought out a memory stick. Handing it over to William she said, "your father told me that if there was anything to happen to him, you should be given this."

Aunt Mabel handed over the memory stick.

"If you need a computer, take my laptop to your room."

William thanked her and took the laptop she had pointed to and went to his room. Shutting the door, he went to the bed and propped himself up, so that his legs were stretched out and his torso was upright. He loaded the laptop up and plugged in the memory stick. A file popped up after a moment and there was one item inside of it. Clicking on the file, a video loaded and there was William's dad.

 _"William, if you are watching this, then I must be dead. I am so sorry son that you are in this position. I don't know how I have died, but it probably wasn't a natural death. I am making this video to explain what I really do for my job. I am an inventor working for the British government. I am working on a series of top secret projects that I fear others are going to be after. Hopefully by now, I have shown you the new light weight armour I have been working on. Keep this safe, it has many properties I don't want falling into the wrong hands. The box it is stored in, is protected by a hard-light hologram. The lid is designed to recognise the DNA of the person lifting it. This is how the box determines the best way to disguise the contents. Keep yourself safe and be the best person you can. Good luck son."_

With that, the video ended and the file suddenly deleted itself. However, it was suddenly replaced by another file. Clicking on it, William found a series of notes his father had made. They contained the chemical formula for the cat serum and instructions on how to make the material the suit is made from. A message suddenly appeared on the screen. It read, 'please place thumb on memory stick'.

William looked down and saw a red glowing light from the top of the memory stick. He put his thumb onto it and the message changed. It now read, 'Thumb print accepted. Please remove the drive.' William complied with the instructions and pulled out the drive. He logged the laptop off and closed it up. Getting up, he put the computer on the bedside table and retrieved the box from the wardrobe.

Lifting the lid, he saw the hologram in place. Reaching down, he pulled out the helmet, boots, gloves, bracelets, rope, backpack and the suit. He lay each piece on the bed and looked at them carefully. He needed to find his parent's killers and he didn't think the police were going to succeed. Something was telling him, that there were other forces at work here. How could he help though?

"William!" Aunt Mabel called up the stairs.

"Yes?!" he called back.

"Myself and Kathleen are going out to the shops. Would you like to come?"

"No thank you," William replied.

"Ok. We'll be as quick as we can."

A moment later, he heard the front door shut. William looked back at the suit. He needed to try this on. He unzipped his trousers and pulled off his t-shirt. Picking the suit up, he found the zipper and unzipped it. It went from armpit to armpit, in a U shape. He pulled the suit on and closed it up. It was skin tight and showed all his muscles, very clearly. It was super comfortable and felt as though he wasn't wearing anything. Next he put on the boots, then the gloves and clicked the bracelets onto his wrists. He carefully wrapped the rope around his waist and noticed at one end, there was a metal cat's claw. The rope was treated with something to keep it in place, as William didn't need to use a knot to stop it from coming loose. Picking up the backpack, he sung it over his back, put his arms through the straps and clipped the round buckle over his chest. As it closed, the buckle glowed green. Lastly, William picked up the helmet. As he did, he noticed a little switch on the inside. Clicking it, two green circles of light appeared over the visor. To William, they looked a lot like cats eyes. He walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection. On a day to day basis, William wore glasses, which made him look geeky. He now took these off and his vision went blurry.

Putting the helmet on his head, something extraordinary happened. A female voice spoke into the helmet's earpiece.

 _"Hello William. Welcome to the Grange X13T light weight armour suit. Please wait for calibration."_

Seconds later, William's vision suddenly became clear again. The visor of the helmet had adapted to his prescription. The inside of the visor acted as a screen, showing him key information, such as his location and it even showed a list of local WIFI and mobile networks.

"Dad didn't show me these features," William said aloud.

 _"I was activated by your father's death protocols,"_ the voice said.

William almost jumped again.

"Who are you?"

 _"I am C.A.T. Computerised Assistant Technology. Your father built me as an AI program. I am here to help."_

Suddenly, William felt a sharp pain in his hands. Each of his fingers felt like they were on fire. He lifted them up and watched as the material around them began to stretch, but not rip, as they formed around ten very sharp claws. His dad was right; this material could not be ripped. It was so tight, it moulded around the claws perfectly, keeping them razor sharp.

"What has happened to me?"

 _"I have run a diagnostic test and it seems your DNA has bonded with chemical C and you have taken on some of the features of a cat. You can now call upon claws like a cat. The molecular structure of your suit, allows the material to spread extremely thin and allow the thing it is covering to maintain many of its properties. Those claws are very sharp."_

"I'm not going to turn into a cat, am I?"

 _"My diagnostics do not come to that conclusion."_

As they were talking, there was a loud crash from downstairs.

"What was that?" William asked.

 _"My sensors detect an intruder,"_ C.A.T said.

"Right, what do I do?"

 _"Go and take them down."_

"What if they have a weapon?"

 _"You are wearing an indestructible suit,"_ C.A.T pointed out.

"Oh yeah," William replied. "Well here it goes."

Opening the bedroom door, William made his way down the stairs, ready to confront whoever the intruder was.


	3. Exhilaration

**I am really enjoying writing this one at the moment. Please review.**

* * *

Quietly and carefully, William got to the bottom of the stairs and rounded the bannister and began to creep down the hallway. His newfound catlike abilities, allowed him to move gingerly through the house and very lightly on his feet, so they made no sound as he brought them down to the ground.

As he neared the dining room, he could hear the draws being yanked out of their holes and items being flung everywhere, as the intruder ransacked the place. Nerves began to make their way through William's body, but he wasn't going to be a scaredy cat now. He needed to confront the person who had broken in and show them who was boss.

With one nimble leap, he went from the hallway into the dining room and landed softly, to face the burglar who had their back to him. William coughed to get their attention. The figure whirled around, whatever they were holding crashing down to the ground in shock.

"Who are you?" they asked, their voice stammering a little, "and what are you wearing?"

William hadn't thought about what he could call himself. He couldn't just give over his real name, that would be stupid. What could he call himself?

Then, the idea came to him.

"I am Billy the Cat," he said, trying to have confidence fill his voice. "Who are you and what are you doing in this house?"

"I live here. It is my house," the burglar tried to lie.

"No it isn't, I saw you breaking in," William also lied.

Ok he hadn't seen them break in, but he had heard it. However, he wasn't going to reveal that information.

"I think you should leave," he said to the intruder.

"And how are you going to make me do that?"

The burglar quickly reached into his jacket pocket and bought out a sharp knife and pointed it at William.

"If you come anywhere near me, I will use this on you."

"It won't work," William said. "I can't be hurt by knives."

"Oh yeah, do you want to bet?"

The burglar lunged forward and hoping he wasn't making the biggest mistake of his life, William stayed put. The knife came flying at him, attached to the attacker's arm and instead of going right into his stomach like it should have, it bounced right off.

 _"Oh I should have said,"_ C.A.T said in the helmet. _"The material only takes the shape of an object from one side. If you come at it from the outside, then it acts like a kevlar vest. It becomes solid, a little like a non-newtonian fluid does when it is hit."_

"Useful information," William muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" the bemused burglar asked, as he looked at his knife, which was now bent at a funny angle.

"I wasn't talking to you," William said. "Have you finished trying to cut me open?"

Without waiting for a reply, William brought up his right hand and the intruder watched with amazement as the claws began to grow from William's fingertips. With one quick slash, he knocked the intruder out cold.

Exhilaration filled William's body. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had just brought down a robber and with superpowers. He had grown up loving the Spider-Man and Superman comics, but never thought that one day, he would be just like them.

Now he only had one problem. How was he going to explain this to Aunt Mabel and the police?

"C.A.T, please call 999 and alert them to the break in. I am going to have to put on my best acting skills."

 _"Calling 999,"_ C.A.T said.

William quickly grabbed some rope from by the back door and tied the intruder's wrists together. He then ran back upstairs and began to pull off the various components of his suit. He was now Billy the Cat, crime fighting hero of Burnham. He could use this persona to learn the truth about his parent's murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.

He dressed back into his 'civilian' clothes and crept back down the stairs. Now he needed to see how good those drama lessons where at school. Could he easily play the frightened teenager, who had heard a break in happen and then seen a helmeted figure, wearing a skin-tight suit, come to his rescue? He didn't have long to wait and find out.

* * *

William soon heard a car pull up the drive to the house. Aunt Mabel and Kathleen were back. Keys rattled in the door and the pair of them came into the hallway, carrying several bags of shopping, some food and others held items to replace William's lost possessions. Aunt Mabel spotted William's worried face.

"William, are you alright?" she asked, concern filling her face.

"Aunt Mabel, we have had a break in," William said, trying to put the right level of fear into his voice.

"What!?" Aunt Mabel cried. "How? Where? Who?"

William explained his cover story and as he was finishing, the sound of sirens filled the air and the bright flash of blue lights began to stream through the front windows. There was a sharp knock on the door. Opening it, revealed DC Mack standing there.

"We had a call to say that there had been a break in at this address," he said, very matter of factly

"Through here officer," William said, leading them all through to the kitchen.

When they walked in, DC Mack let out an annoyed sigh of recognition.

"Greasy fingers McDougal," he said. "You have finally been caught in the act." He bent down and hauled McDougal to his feet. "McDougal I am arresting you for the suspicion of burglary. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

"Yes," McDougal said very reluctantly. "Where is that strange person dressed in the spandex? Why isn't he here to see me get arrested?"

"All in good time," DC Mack said. "Take him to the station."

DC Mack handed McDougal over to one of his juniors, as he turned to face William.

"Explain everything to me."

William once again found himself lying to the police, giving out his cover story. When he came to the part about his alter ego defeating McDougal, DC Mack snorted with laughter.

"You mean what Greasy fingers said is true? There was a man dressed in spandex? Where is he?"

"I don't know," William lied. "He ran off."

"Does he have a name?"

"He called himself, Billy the Cat."

"So now we have a vigilante on our hands," DC Mack said. "Great just what we need, a have a go hero. If ever you see this guy again, get in contact with us. He could be a real menace."

"But he stopped the robbery, he protected me," William protested.

"He may have done that this time, but we don't know about the next time."

William got the feeling that that was the end of the conversation, there would be no more arguing. DC Mack completed his police report and gave the necessary details to Aunt Mabel and then called the local window installers, to see about replacing the broken pane in the kitchen window.

* * *

About half an hour later, the new window was being installed and the police were on their way. A short time after that, the window was replaced and the three of them were left on their own.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Aunt Mabel asked William for what must have been the millionth time.

"I'm fine thanks," he replied.

Aunt Mabel nodded and left him alone with Kathleen, as they sat in the living room, having a cup of tea.

"So you actually saw this guy dressed in spandex?" she asked him. "That must have been so weird."

"It was a little weird, but he was so cool, the way he stopped the guy. I had no idea what to do and I don't know how the guy even knew we had been broken into."

"Well at least he was there. We have a superhero in the village. That is so exciting, I hope I get to meet him one day. Was he handsome?"

William cringed slightly. Was his cousin about to have a crush on him?

"I don't know, I could only see half of his face. The rest was covered by the mask."

"Well I hope he comes back soon," Kathleen said. "Though, not under the same circumstances."

"Maybe you will meet him one day," William said, a slight knowing smile filling his face.

They sat together for a while talking about various things, trying to avoid getting sad and remembering the brutal images from the previous few days. However, that was not going to be totally possible. There were funeral plans to be made and then a funeral to take place. The police still needed to conduct their investigation and give the three of them regular updates.

* * *

It was a few hours later when Aunt Mabel walked into the room and announced that they had to make some funeral arrangements, something William had hoped it would be years before he had to consider burying his parents.

They poured over various details and eventually decided on what they were going to do. A simple private service and both parents would be cremated. This would save on various costs and they could be scattered in the wood, just outside the village. All they needed now, was for the police to release the bodies.

"That was not very pleasant," William said to Kathleen as Aunt Mabel left the room, with all of their decisions to be passed onto the funeral directors. "I hope I never have to do that again."

"No, I just can't get my head around having to make decisions like this."

Then a mobile phone started ringing. It was William's. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. Pressing the screen to answer it, he brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?"

 _"Hello William,"_ a familiar voice said. _"I hope I am not disturbing you."_

The voice belonged to C.A.T.

 _"I am receiving an alert from the police radio network of a suspected burglary at the school. Would you like to go and apprehend the criminal?"_

William thought for a moment. Earlier, he had felt such exhilaration when he halted the thief at the house. He had tasted something amazing and now he wanted more. If he was going to find those responsible for his parent's death, then he needed the practice. What better way to train himself up.

"Yes, I'll be there soon," he replied.

With that, he hung up the call and looked over to see Kathleen giving him an inquisitive look.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"It was a friend from school," William said, as he got up to his feet. "They want to catch up with me after what has happened."

The lies kept coming and it was slightly scaring him how easily they were now coming out.

"I'll be back later. Don't wait up," William joked.

He ran up to his room and pulled out a backpack that he found in the wardrobe. He quickly stuffed his Billy the Cat outfit into it and zipped it back up. Swinging it over his back, he quick pace walked out of the room and back downstairs. With a brief explanation to Aunt Mabel, he was soon allowed out and was on his way. Aunt Mabel thought it would be good for him to get out of the house and go to see a friend. How little she knew of his real motivations.

* * *

The school was only a few minutes away from Aunt Mabel's house, but with William's newfound abilities, this time reduced significantly. He was never into sports and didn't like to join in the PE lessons, often finding himself reluctantly put into goal for football, or slam tackled in a game of Rugby. He watched the other boys in the changing room as they put on their various bits of kit and thought of them as such show offs. If you need to be putting pads on to protect your shins, mouth guards to protect your teeth and other bits of protective kit on, then you shouldn't be doing it. Saying that, William was about to go in to school to stop a burglary, wearing a helmet and a skin-tight suit. He had often seen his classmates put on those Under Armour tops and shorts on for PE and thought that there was no way he would wear lycra. What a different person he had become now.

He soon arrived at the school and was faced with his next dilemma. It was surrounded by police cars, with no apparent way in. Now this was where William's geekiness came into play. He often would walk around the perimeter of the school during his break and lunch periods. He had noticed several key weaknesses in the school's security, but had kept them to himself. He thought quickly and concluded that the police would only be around the areas that they thought were the most likely place for the thief to run out of. So, William went the other side of the school. Sure enough, there was no one there and by happy coincidence, there was a little outbuilding that he could slip behind and become Billy the Cat.

Slipping out of his clothes, he pulled on his suit and then the helmet.

 _"Welcome back William,"_ C.A.T said.

William suddenly had a thought. She had welcomed him by his real name. What if someone else put the helmet on? Would they be able to find out his identity?

"C.A.T, can someone else discover my identity of they were to put you on or hack into you?"

 _"My systems are protected with several layers of firewalls and encryption. I was designed to only work with the profile that was opened on my system first. I can only be controlled and operated by you. Do not fear, I will protect your identity."_

"Good to know."

 _"Are you ready to go and apprehend the intruder?"_

"Absolutely."

With that, William snuck out from behind the outbuilding and headed across the concrete, to the main school building.


	4. Hostage

**Here is the next chapter. William is about to face his first big test as a new superhero. How will he cope? Please review.**

* * *

William arrived at the entrance to the maths block and gently pulled the door open. Stepping inside, he carefully closed the door behind him, minimising the noise he was making. He began to move steadily down the corridor. It was strange seeing the school without any teachers or kids, somehow there was a spooky vibe in the air. The lights were not on and the limited light streaming through the classroom doors, left the corridor bathed in darkness. This was good news for William, who was able to blend into the darkness, except for the two green dots on his helmet.

"C.A.T, are you able to turn off the green lights on the helmet?" he asked in a whisper.

 _"Doing it now,"_ came the reply.

Glancing to the right, William could see, or rather not see, that the lights had gone in the reflection of a door window.

"Where is the burglar?" William asked.

 _"Listening into police broadcasts now."_

The radio in William's helmet buzzed into life. He could hear exactly what the police were talking about.

 _"Have you got a clear shot?"_ one officer asked.

 _"He keeps moving, I don't want to hit the hostage,"_ another replied.

"Hostage," William said aloud. "I didn't know this was a hostage situation. How bad is this burglary?"

 _"Analysing new information,"_ C.A.T said.

A short moment later came a reply.

 _"Initial reports from police did not include the hostage information. It is not publicly known."_

"Where are they in the school."

 _"Analysing... Analysis of the police frequencies suggest they are in the in the science laboratories, upstairs."_

"Thanks C.A.T," William said.

 _"No problem."_

As this was his school, William knew the layout like the back of his hand. From the maths block, it was a short walk down a couple of corridors to the science department. He pushed the double doors, that led into the science block, open and walked through. Being careful to make no sound, he ensured that the doors did not slam shut. Just to his left, were the stairs leading up to the first floor. To test his new found abilities, William thought he would try leaping like a cat. Crouching down, he pushed off hard and jumped high in the air. Boy did he jump high in the air.

William landed softly on the railing at the top of the landing. He wanted to let out a vey loud exclamation, but knew he shouldn't. Stepping down, he continued along the upstairs corridor and came into a square clearing, with a classroom located in each corner of the square. Above him, a skylight let in the dwindling daylight, causing a slightly red and yellow tinge to spread over everything.

The door to one of the classrooms was open and William could hear voices coming through the doorway. He crept over and crouched down in a position where he could see in, but was hidden enough that he himself couldn't be seen.

"They aren't going to give up until you go," a female voice was saying. "You'll have to give yourself up soon."

"I have told you before, shut up," a male voice said. "Why can't you just shut up. They will have to let me go free."

"Why? This is a school. We don't have anything here that is worth anything of significant value. What do you really want?"

William recognised the female voice. It was his chemistry teacher, Mrs Pandeer. She was one of his favourite teachers. He needed to save her and stop this thief from hurting her.

"You really don't know the value this school really has. You will not stop us from getting what we have come for."

There was a metallic click. Now William was no expert, but he was pretty sure he knew exactly what that sound was. A gun. He couldn't wait any longer. He hoped that his new cat like acrobatic skills would allow him to dodge any flying bullets.

Crawling into the classroom, he positioned himself behind one of the work benches and waited. Counting slowly, William timed his breaths to his heartbeat and then did something that was probably very stupid for a teenage boy to do. Leaping into the air, he grew his claws from the tips of his fingers and came crashing down on the man, knocking the gun from his hand and under another bench.

The man screamed in agony, as one of William's claws raked through his skin. After the moment of shock, the man began to fight back, pushing William off of him and slamming his body into the table next to them.

"Who are you?" he growled, the pain clearly angering him.

"I am Billy the Cat and I am here to stop you."

The man let out a hoarse laugh.

"Ha, a child thinking they can stop me. I grant you that you have taken me by surprise, but you are still a child and one I have no issue dealing with."

He brought up his fist and began to throw a punch in the direction of William's jaw. However, before a connection could be made, William managed to roll out of the way and jump back to his feet. In a split second, he had whipped the rope off from around his waist and with the flick of his wrist, it wrapped around the man, the claw at the end locking the rope into place. The man's arms were pinned to his sides and he couldn't move.

"Who's laughing now?" William said.

"Let me go. You have no idea what you have stumbled into," the man growled.

"I don't think I am going to let you go," replied William. "C.A.T, please alert the police that we have apprehended the intruder."

 _"They already know,"_ C.A.T replied. _"The sniper saw everything. They are on their way up now."_

"Oh, really. Wow, ok."

"What is it?" Mrs Pandeer said. "Who is C.A.T?"

"The police are on their way up," William replied. "You are going down."

The last comment was directed to the intruder, who now had a face of pure anger.

"When I get out, I am coming straight after you. You won't see me coming until it is too late."

The doors in the corridor flew open and the sound of several heavy boots running, came to their ears.

"Put your hands up!" shouted one of the armed officers that was now positioned outside of the classroom door.

"Um, that may be a problem for him," William said, gesturing to the rope around the man's body.

"You too," the officer said.

William raised his arms. The armed officers entered the room and surround the three of them.

"Who are you?" the officer asked William.

"I'm Billy the Cat, at your service."

"You are both under arrest."

"Wait, what?!" William said. "I just caught this guy for you. I'm not the bad guy here."

"How do we know that?" the officer said. "We come into a hostage situation and see what is clearly a teenager who has dressed themselves in a fancy motorcycle helmet and a unitard. We have many questions that need to be answered."

"Well sorry, I'm not ready to answer them," William said.

As if she could read his mind, C.A.T spoke to William through his ear.

 _"Calculating escape route."_

A visual display suddenly came up on William's visor. It began to display the angle William would need to jump out of the window and down to the ground, without killing himself. It took a split second to make the decision. Moving with lightning speed, William grabbed the end of his rope and gave it a flick, so it came off the man and back around his waist. Then, he ran for the window, being sure to follow C.A.T's display and leaped through the glass, spraying it everywhere. It was as though he was travelling in slow motion.

William summersaulted through the air and landed softly on the floor. Bullets began to whizz past his head and one managed to hit his leg. He gasped in pain, but looking down at the suit he could see that there was no hole. The bullet had not gone through, but he was sure that a large bruise would be forming there.

Jumping up, he made a dash for it, weaving in and out of more bullets. Heading back around the side of the school to the maths block, gave him a rest from the bullets. The police weren't positioned there, so could not get to him. Grabbing his things from behind the outbuilding, William dashed off before any officer could catch up to him.

Nearby, there was an electrical substation. William jumped up over the fence and collapsed down to the ground, leaning against the wall chuckling to himself.

 _"What is so funny?"_ C.A.T questioned.

"That was such fun," William said. "I can't believe I managed to get him and then escape from the police. I want to do this more; I like being a superhero."

 _"You humans are such funny creatures. I do not see why putting yourself in danger would bring such joy."_

"Oh C.A.T, I just need the distraction right now. This is allowing me to work out my frustrations."

 _"I don't get frustrations, I'm just an AI program. By the way, you have an incoming call from Kathleen."_

"Answer it please."

 _"William, where are you?"_ she asked. _"Have you heard about what is happening at school?"_

"I'm on my way home," he said. "What's happened?"

 _"They say there has been a hostage situation in the science block. There are pictures appearing on Twitter of a figure dressed like the guy you saw in the house earlier. You are right, we have a superhero in the village."_

"I'm coming home, you can show me the pictures then."

With that, William ended the call.

"Twitter, I'm on Twitter wearing spandex. If anyone finds out, I will have the mickey taken out of me."

 _"Again, you humans are so funny about what you wear. As an AI, I have no need to worry about what I look like. Please explain why you would be ridiculed."_

"If anyone finds out, I would be ridiculed because this is not what people commonly wear. Most people wear normal clothes, that don't show off every lump and bump of their body. I am also known for my complete dislike of sport. The kids at school think I am a lanky and weak person. Once it was thought we would dress in clothes like that, but I think people have rubbished that idea. Tights were once part of a rich man's wardrobe, but soon females began to wear them. Then in very recent times, tight clothing has become part of sports clothing."

 _"So are you embarrassed about wearing your combat suit?"_

"I am a little, but wearing the helmet gives me that anonymity. I am someone else and with these new abilities, however many I have, I can be two different people. A shy, nervous teenager and a crime fighting hero."

 _"Well I will be here to help you with your crime fighting activities, however I won't be much good for your other life, that, you will have to navigate by yourself."_

"I suppose. Thanks C.A.T."

With that, William took off the helmet and turned it off. He pulled out his clothes from the backpack and replaced them with the helmet. A couple of minutes later, he had jumped back over the wall and was on his way home, dressed as a civilian.

There came the noise of sirens from behind him and a police car came drove past and came to a stop just a few meters ahead. A police officer got out of the car and made his way towards William. He recognised the officer. It was PC Kyle Lometo, the older brother of one of William's school friends.

"Hi Will," PC Lometo said. "How are you doing? I am so sorry to hear about what happened the other day."

"Hey, thanks. I am still coming to terms with it. What can I do for you?"

"You haven't by any chance seen this person?"

PC Lometo pulled out picture and showed it to him. William's heart skipped a beat. It was him, as Billy the Cat.

"Not since he saved me this morning," he replied. "What has he done now?"

"Sorry, I can't comment on the details of the operation. We just need to find him."

"I can't be of help there then."

"Ok. Well, have a good evening then and stay safe."

PC Lometo walked back to his car and drove off. That left William to walk back in peace and with his thoughts. Now he had to go and meet Billy the Cat's biggest fan, Kathleen and try to not give anything away. This was going to be interesting.


End file.
